Guide to Spring Classics Road Bike Racing

Ronde Van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders)

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Nickname: The Ronde

How to Say It: "ron-duh vahn vlahn-der-in"

Belgium’s Tour of Flanders is by far the nation’s most important day of cycling. With millions of spectators lining its 260-kilometer course and weeks of anticipation, speculation, and scandals leading up to the April event, the race packs the drama of the Oscars, the excitement of the Tour de France, and the hype of the Super Bowl into one day. The second of the sport’s five monuments, the Ronde is also known in Flanders as Vlaanderens mooiste, the “most beautiful” race in the region. That is, if cobbles, narrow roads, bad weather, and wind are your idea of beautiful.

Created in 1913 by the editor of a Flemish sports daily, the goal of the race was to publicize the newspaper while promoting Flemish regional pride. That first year, the race had 27 riders and its winner, Paul Deman, would go on to barely live through WWI. (He survived and later took the 1920 Paris-Roubaix.) Throughout its 94 editions, Belgians have won the race 66 times. Fabian Cancellara’s impressive win last year was the second for a Swiss rider; the first was Henri Suter who (like Cancellara last season) won the Flanders-Roubaix double in 1923.

While other races might get more press, for the riders the Tour of Flanders is widely considered to be the most impressive victory to have on a resume as the race requires its champions to be true all-arounders. Sprinters are often dropped on the climbs, and climbers are often gutted on the rough, windswept roads. The most striking characteristic of the Tour of Flanders has to be its bergs, the most famous of which are the murderously steep Koppenberg and the strategic Muur de Geraardsbergen less than 20 kilometers from the finish line. Barely wide enough for most cars to pass through, the race approaches field-sprint speeds as teams try to position their riders at the front heading into these climbs; riders at the back are often forced to walk past throngs of fans who likely spent all day drinking and waiting for their heroes to pass.